GETTING AROUND.

Air security agency antes up for baggage claims

September 27, 2004|By JON HILKEVITCH.

The checks are in the mail to almost 1,000 air travelers who filed claims with the federal government for property that was damaged, lost or stolen when their checked baggage was screened for explosives at Chicago's airports.

The claims being paid thus far to 945 passengers total $340,418, according to the Transportation Security Administration, the agency created after the September 2001 terrorist attacks to screen passengers and their baggage.

The compensation payments mark an effort by the security agency to catch up on a backlog of thousands of cases nationally, and they represent a small portion of the losses claimed.

The number of claims at O'Hare and Midway that were denied was not available, although von Walter said 17 percent of claims nationally were rejected. Von Walter said the agency is seeking more information from some Chicago-area passengers whose cases are still pending, before it agrees to pay the claims in full, in part or to deny them.

Some 1,334 claims totaling about $1.6 million were submitted at O'Hare. The agency has closed out 775 cases for a total of $208,486. At Midway, 240 claims totaling $340,081 were filed. Some 170 claims totaling $131,932 were processed, the agency said.

Overall, the agency has processed about 25,600 checked-baggage claims from passengers at airports across the country and is reviewing about 8,000 additional claims. It currently has agreed to pay out $1.6 million in claims dating to February 2002 when the agency took over responsibility for security at airports.

Officials said half of the claims were for damaged items and half for property that was lost or stolen during baggage screening. The claims being paid average $110.

The agency advises passengers not to overpack their suitcases because zippers or contents could become more easily damaged if the baggage needs to be opened during security screening. In addition, laptop computers, as well as items that are fragile or expensive such as jewelry, should be kept with passengers' carry-on bags.

And don't pack greenbacks. Officials said some travelers have filed claims for cash that was allegedly packed in luggage and turned up missing.

Information and forms that are needed to file a claim are available on the security agency's Web site, www.tsa.gov. In the site search field near the top of the screen, type "TSA Claims Center."

RTA map is a mess

It's fitting that the Regional Transportation Authority's newly printed 2004 system map, highlighted in the Sept. 6 Getting Around column, is free to transit riders. That's because it is worth next to nothing.

Getting Around asked the Chicago Transit Authority to check the accuracy of the map after a reader pointed out mistakes in the map's routing of some CTA Lake Shore Drive bus routes.

Errors or omissions were found on 12 lakeshore bus routes and two routes that operate elsewhere.

For example, the RTA map shows the No. 28 Stony Island bus as still going downtown and traveling to the Red Line, but the route was changed last spring and now goes to neither destination. The No. X28 Stony Island Express is not shown at all on the RTA map.

The downtown section of the RTA map displays the No. 135 Clarendon/LaSalle Express and the No. 136 Sheridan/LaSalle Express as traveling on LaSalle Street north of Wacker Drive. They don't.

Among other errors, the RTA map also fails to show that the No. 144 Marine/Michigan Express operates on Michigan Avenue to Wacker and on to State Street.

CTA officials said more inaccuracies may exist beyond the 14 routes because they have so far focused their analysis on Getting Around's request to look at Lake Shore Drive service.

In response to a jab from Getting Around in the Sept. 6 column about the 2004 map being issued in September, an RTA marketing official said the delay was due in part to ensure that routing changes the CTA made over the spring and summer were incorporated into the map.

Red-faced RTA spokesman David Loveday said last week that the number of mistakes found in the map is inexcusable and that controls will be implemented before the 2005 edition is printed.

It may be easier to get the 2005 RTA map right if CTA President Frank Kruesi follows through on his threat to gut service if the General Assembly does not boost state funding to the CTA. In that case, the RTA map might resemble a blank sheet of paper.

Swifter on Yellow Line

Trips on the CTA's Yellow Line, also known as the Skokie Swift, are about to become 40 seconds faster.

Work was completed this month switching Yellow Line trains to third-rail power throughout the 4.7-mile non-stop route between Dempster Street in Skokie and the CTA Red Line station at Howard Street. Until the conversion, trains used overhead catenary wires as the power source on the west end of the line.